Holding that banks cannot employ force to recover loans, the Supreme Court today refused to stay an order of the consumer forum directing ABN AMRO Bank to pay Rs 71,223 to a woman whose vehicle was allegedly forcibly seized by the bank.

"But whatever, it is, you cannot employ force to recover the loan. You have to go by the law," a bench of Justices B N Aggrawal and P P Naolekar, observed, while refusing to stay or quash the order.

The bench, however, asked the complainant to file her reply on the special leave petition filed by the bank challenging the consumer forum's order.

The woman Sangeeta Srivastava had moved the district consumer forum challenging the alleged forcible seizure of her Tata Indica car by the bank for default in payment of the loan installments.

According to Sangeeta, she had availed an auto loan from the bank in 2001 and regularly paid the EMI of Rs 7,427 till July 2002. Due to financial difficulties, she claimed to have defaulted for four months to the tune of Rs 21,741.

Though she offered to make pay of the defaulted amount, the bank sent some people to her house and got the vehicle forcibly seized, the woman alleged.